Dogs Trivia

Various facts & trivia about our canine friends..

• Dogs are amazing creatures. Sometime they gain fame through a stroke of luck and sometimes it’s due to extraordinary courage.
• The Basset Hound made famous in the Hush Puppies shoe ads was named Biggles.
  Biggles grandson, Mr Jeffries earned fame as the dog with the longest ears in the world. His ears measured 11 ½ inches each and he often tripped over them.
• Tia, a 2 year old Neopolitan Mastiff gave birth to the world’s largest litter in 2005. She delivered 24 puppies by caesarean section. 20 of them survived, setting another record of the most surviving puppies.
• The world’s tallest dog is a Great Dane from Sacramento, USA named Gibson. He measures 7 feet when standing upright.
• 12 veterinary science students from the University of Sydney set a record bathing dogs when they washed 848 dogs in 8 hours.
• The first search and rescue dog on the scene at the World Trade Centre 9/11 in 2001 was Bear, an 11 year old Golden Retriever. He began recovery efforts immediately working 18 hours days in the beginning.

Fun Dog Facts :

• Rin Tin Tin was the first American dog movie star and signed his own contracts for 22 movies with a pawprint.
• Toto’s role in The Wizard of Oz was played by a female Cairn Terrier named Terry.
• In the late 1800’s, Lassie type Collies were known as Scottish Sheepdogs.
• Former US President Teddy Roosevelt’s pit bull Pete, once ripped off a French Ambassador’s trousers at a White House event.
• Zorba, an English Mastiff is the heaviest dog on record, weighing 155kgs at the age of 8 in 1989.
• According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the smallest dog on record was a Yorkshire Terrier in Great Britain, who weighed just 4 ounces.
• The longest lived dog, according to the Guinnes Book of World Records, was an Australian Cattle Dog named Bluey, who lived to be 29.
• The first living being to travel in space was a small mixed breed dog named Laika. She was sent into space in an artificial earth satellite in 1957 by the Russian government.
• John F Kennedy’s terrier, Charlie sired 4 puppies with Liaka’s daughter Pushinka.
• Dalmation puppies are pure white at birth.
• Dogs do not have an appendix.
• An adult dog has 42 teeth.
• The only sweat glands a dog has are between the paw pads. The only way they can discharge heat is by panting.
• If a dog isn’t spayed or neutered, a female dog, her mate and their offspring can product 67,000 dogs in 6 years.
• The most successful mountain rescue dog ever was a St Bernard named Barry, who lived during the early 1800’s and saved 40 lives.
• Dogs have about 100 different facial expressions, most of them made with the ears. Unfortunately the likes of bulldogs only have 10 due to their breeding.
• One of the world’s oldest breeds of dog is the Saluki. It is thought to have been developed in Ancient Mesopotamia around 3000 B.C.
• A dog’s sense of smell is one of the keenest in nature. If a pot of stew was cooking on a cooker a human would smell the stew, while the dog could smell the beef, carrots and all the other ingredients in the stew.
• It was recently discovered that dogs do see in colour, just not as vivid as the colour that humans see.
• Two dogs survived the sinking of the Titanic. They escaped on early lifeboats carrying so few people that no one objected. Miss Margaret Hays of New York brought her Pomeranian with her in lifeboat no. 7, while Henry Sleeper Harper of the publishing family boarded lifeboat no. 3 with his Pekinese, Sun Yat Sen.
• Giving dogs chocolate could be fatal for them because theobromine, an ingredient of chocolate stimulates the central nervous system and cardiac muscle.
• In the original 101 Dalmations movie, Pongo has 72 spots and Perdita has 68 while the puppies had 32 each.
• The largest dogs among all breeds, at least in terms of height, is the Irish Wolfhound.
• Nearly all but two breeds of dogs have pink tongues. The two exceptions? The Chow Chow and the Shar-pei, both with black tongues.
• The Poodle haircut was originally meant to improve the dog's swimming abilities as a retriever, with the pom-poms left in place to warm their joints.
• Cats can see a lot better than dogs. In fact, dogs first distinguish objects by movement, then brightness, and finally by shape.
• Among dogs officially registered with kennel clubs in the U.S., Labrador Retrievers are the most popular breed followed by Rottweilers and German Shepherds.
• All dogs, regardless of breed, are direct descendants of wolves and technically of the same species.
• A dog's whiskers -- found on the muzzle, above the eyes and below the jaws -- are technically known as vibrissae. They are touch-sensitive hairs than actually sense minute changes in airflow.
• Dogs are capable of locating the source of a sound in 6/100ths of a second by using their swiveling ears like radar dishes.
• Dogs have a sense of smell that is one of the keenest in nature. Humans might smell a pot of stew cooking on the stove, but a dog can distinguish the smells of each individual ingredient, from the beef itself to the potatoes.
• The ancient Chinese royalty loved the Pekingese, carrying them tucked into the sleeves of their royal robes.
• Dachshunds were bred to fight badgers in their dens.
• The oldest breed of dog native to North America is the Chihuahua.
• Survivors of the Titanic included two dogs: a Pekingese belonging to Henry Sleeper Harper and a Pomeranian belonging to Miss Margaret Hays.
• Every minute, dogs take ten to thirty breaths.
• The only mammals with prostates are humans and dogs.
• There are 42 teeth in a dog's mouth.
• Whippets can reach a maximum speed of 35 miles per hour.
• Contrary to popular belief, dogs are not color blind but can, in fact, see color. However, their color scheme is not as vivid as ours and can be likened to our vision at twilight.
• There are more than five million puppies born in the United States each year.
• Have you ever seen a dog curled up with his tail covering his nose? They do that to keep the nose warm in cold weather.
• Many dogs' eyes reflect the color green in the dark, but some also reflect orange or red.
• The top five favorite breeds of dogs in the US are: Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, German Shepherd, Beagle, and Dachshund.
• The Doberman breed was created in the 1860's by Louis Doberman, a German tax-collector who created the dog to protect him while he worked.
• The name Pug is believed to have derived from this dog's resemblance to the pug monkey.
• The Basenji is the only barkless dog in the world.
• Greyhounds can reach a speed of up to 45 miles per hour.
• When a puppy is born, he is blind, deaf, and toothless.
• Dogs don't actually sweat by salivating. They sweat through the pads on their feet.
• Smiling at a dog causes him to think you are baring your teeth to show aggression.
• There are about 68 million dogs with owners in the United States.
• The Taco Bell dog is actually a female Chihuahua named Gidget.
• One of the very first animals domesticated by humans was the dog.
• The "spring" in Springer Spaniel referred to this dog's ability to spring or startle game.
• Dogs have been domesticated for 10,000 years.
  

Top 5 Dogs from Films :

Character Name: Fang
Breed of Dog: Neapolitan Mastiff
Film: Harry Potter Films (2001 - Present )
Film Trivia: Fang plays the role of the loveable giant Hagrids pet dog. Fang is described in the film as a Boarhound, but in actual fact was played by 4 different Neapolitan Mastiffs.

Character Name: Hooch
Breed of Dog: Dogue De Bordeaux
Film: Turner & Hooch (1989)
Film Trivia: Cop doggy comedy, Det Scott Turner played by Tom Hanks teams up with Hooch, the slobbering mischievous dog who could be the only one to help Turner solve a murder. Hooch played by Beasley the Dogue de Bordeaux.

Character Name: Toto
Breed dog Dog: Cairn Terrier
Film: Wizard of Oz (1939)
Film Trivia: Toto was played by Terry the Cairn Terrier. Toto was referred to as a "he" in MGM's classic film, Toto was really a "she". Carl Spitz, Hollywood animal trainer received a salary of $125.00 per week for the use of the Terry in the film.

Character Name: Frank
Breed of Dog: Pug
Film: Men in Black (1997), Men In Black 2 (2002)
Film Trivia: Within the films, Frank has the appearance of a normal pug dog, but he is actually an extraterrestrial in disguise. Frank was played in both movies by a very well trained pug named "Mushu".

Character Name: Beethoven
Breed of Dog: Saint Bernard
Film: Beethoven (1992)
Film Trivia: A slobbering St Bernard dog becomes the center of attention for a loving family but its vet secretly wants to kill him.

Top Dogs from TV :

Top Three Dogs From TV

Character Name: Eddie
Breed of Dog: Jack Russell Terrier
TV Show: Frasier
TV Trivia: Eddie is Martin's dog, a large Jack Russell Terrier. Eddie was played by two dogs: first Moose, and then Moose's son Enzo, who first appeared as a stunt double. Eddie is known for responding to Martin and Daphne with human-like understanding, but often seems to taunt Frasier.

Character Name: Nunzio (1997-2002)
Breed of Dog: Cardigan Welsh Corgi
TV Show: Dharma & Greg
TV Trivia: Nunzio is Stinky's dog, a Welsh Corgi, a gift from Dharma on Stinky's Bar Mitzvah. Nunzio was played by many different Corgi's throughout the show. Bud 1997–1998, Butch 1998–1999, Twiggy 2000–2001.

Character Name: Duke (1960s)
Breed of Dog: Bloodhound
TV Show: The Beverly Hillbillies
TV Trivia: The Beverly Hillbillies was an show about a hillbilly family living in Southern California. In the series, Jed Clampett strikes oil while hunting on his land. He then moves with his family to Beverly Hills, California, with the resultant wealth. Stretch played Jed's bloodhound Duke.

Name:Shep (1971-1987)
Breed of Dog: Border Collie
TV Show: Blue Peter
TV Trivia: Shep was a one of the most memorable Blue Peter dogs. Remembered by TV viewers as inseparable from John Noakes who would say "Get Down Shep!!" Like all Blue Peter pets, Shep was owned by the BBC, but when John left the programme in June 1978 the BBC realised the pair were inseparable and let him keep the Border Collie.

Character Name: Roly (1985 - 1993)
Breed of Dog: Poodle
TV Show: Eastenders
TV Trivia: Roly the poodle was in EastEnders right from the start. Roly was the faithful friend of publican Den Watts. Roly was then handed over to Pat and Frank, but ended up back with Sharon. He remained at the Vic until his untimely death in 1993.

Character Name: Wellard (1994 ~ Present)
Breed of Dog: Tervueren Belgian Shepherd Dog
TV Show: Eastenders
TV Trivia: Arrived on the show back in 1994, played by a dog named Kyte. Robbie Jackson rescued Wellard from someone who wasn't treating him well. The loyal dog paid his master back many times over. Since Robbie left the Square, Gus has looked after him. Wellard fathered Frieda the greyhound's puppies. Frieda was Grant and Nigel's dog.